The present invention is basically directed to improvements with respect to personal cooling devices, especially the type of device that is intended to be worn by the user and directing an air stream toward the user for cooling purposes. Personal cooling devices have become quite popular, especially in hot climates, since it affords the user thereof to be able to carry a cooling device with them to any particular venue, and to activate the device in order to cool the body. Many of such devices, indeed, most of such devices, consist of hand held portable fans, which are battery operated and intended to be held by the user's hand, in order to direct air flow toward the user. As is well known, such personal fans generally will have foam blades so that the user is protected against injury, the foam blades being made of a very soft material such that injury is avoided should the user make contact with the fan blades. Other variations of such devices include personal cooling fans which have a water reservoir attached thereto, and some type of pump arrangement that the user is able to pump water up to a discharge nozzle, which usually is in line with and/or transverse to the air flow created by the fan, such that the user can achieve cooling not only by an air stream, but also with a mist of cool water which is blown toward the user. Such types of fans as described herein are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,106 which shows a portable misting fan which is a self contained unit and includes a fluid reservoir. Improvements to these devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,495 which disclose an integral portable fan with an atomizing head unit adapted for attachment to a fluid reservoir so that the user may manipulate a pump to create a mist directed into the air stream created by the fan. Various other patents illustrate similar types of devices.
The present invention is particularly adapted to a personal cooling fan device which is adapted for being worn about the neck of a user and constructed so that the air created by the fan is directed upwardly toward the head and neck portion of the user. Prior art type devices may include the patent to Carter U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,035 which teaches a basic necklace fan with a cage around the fan blades and a battery enclosure hanging below for balance purposes. Such devices however, tend to be rather bulky, and pose difficulties for the user thereof. Another typical prior art type device consists of a fan carried on an enclosure which has a plurality of batteries therein and a switch for operating a motor which drives the fan. The fan includes a semi-circular guard to which the fan is attached, and the guard being constructed to lie against the chest of the user and direct the fan's air stream in an upwardly direction in order to achieve the cooling effect. The fan blade is made of a soft foam material in order to avoid any injury to the user. A strap is provided which attaches to the guard in order to achieve the ability to hang the device around the neck of the user.
The patent to Trask U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,647 attempts to address the problem of the bulkiness of the device by turning the fan sideways and using a duct downstream of the fan blades to direct the air upward toward the users face. The patent to Stengel U.S. Pat. No. 6,955,524 attempts a further improvement by weighting the battery enclosure and making it flat so that it lies against the user's chest. The fan blades are soft and therefore may be left unguarded and while still avoiding any injury to the user. The patent to Hanson U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,359, attempts a further improvement by adding an air filter to the device to further clean the air before it is discharged toward the user.
The patent to Shimogari U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,702, adds a belt clip and a chiller block of a freezable material that chills the air blowing past it. The chiller block is placed downstream of the fan in order to pick up chilled air in order to direct it to the user.
It will therefore be appreciated from the above, that the prior art has made various attempts at providing a necklace style personal cooling device to be worn around the neck of the user in order to achieve a cooling effect. However, the problem associated with the devices provided in the prior art is that they are bulky in view of the fact that the breadth of the axial flow fan is perpendicular to the users body. Further, the bulkiness of the unit often obstructs the ability of the user to engage in activities since the device is hanging in front of the user. Hence, tasks such as operating a computer, or sitting at a desk is often impeded by the bulkiness of the device.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an improvement to a necklace style portable cooling device by eliminating the bulkiness thereof, and further improving the air flow which is discharged from the device such that one achieves a greater efficiency in use of the unit.